The realm plays an important part in The Lord of the Rings[4] as the Elven centre of resistance against Sauron and is a symbol for the Elves' aesthetics of preservation[5] which provides a space 'out of time' for the characters who both live and visit there.[6] With Lothlórien, Tolkien reconciles otherwise conflicting ideas regarding time-distortion in Elfland from various traditional sources such as Thomas the Rhymer (13th/14th century) and the Danish folk-play Elverhøj (1828).[7]

The form Lórinand was also rendered in Quenya as Laurenandë and in Sindarin as Glornan or Nan Laur, all of the same meaning.[8] Other, later names given to the land included the much later Rohirric name Dwimordene (from dwimor "phantom", an allusion to the perceived magic of the Elves), and the Westron name The Golden Wood.

The culture and knowledge of the Silvan elves was considerably enriched by the arrival of Sindarin Elves from west of the mountains and even the Silvan language was gradually replaced by Sindarin. Amongst these arrivals was Amdír, who became their first lord, as well as Galadriel and Celeborn, who also crossed the mountains and the Anduin to join these southern Nandor after the destruction of Eregion during the War of the Elves and Sauron. Ultimately, Amdír led an army out of the forest as part of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, just as Oropher, another Sindarin lord, led the Silvan Elves of the north in the same victory over Sauron, so it can be assumed that both northern and southern woodland realms had been founded by then.

With the gradual return of Sauron's malign influence to the forest east of Anduin, the northern Silvan Elves led by Thranduil son of Oropher (and father of Legolas), moved even further north to escape it, and those of the south returned west across the Anduin, although without their last Sindarin lord Amroth son of Amdír, who departed to Edhellond after his lover Nimrodel had fled there.

It was later revealed that Galadriel's Ring enriched the land by preserving its flora from death and decay, and in wielding it she created a powerful ward against all creatures of evil intent: in fact the only way that Galadriel's Lothlórien could have been conquered by Mordor is if Sauron himself, the master of all the Rings of Power, had come there.

Following the departure of Galadriel for Valinor at the beginning of the Fourth Age, the Elves of Lothlórien were ruled by Celeborn alone, who led them across the Anduin to found a new, larger realm, East Lórien, centred on Amon Lanc. By the time of the death of Queen Arwen, Celeborn and Galadriel's granddaughter, Lothlórien itself was deserted.

Lothlórien was located east of Moria between the Misty Mountains and the river Anduin. Other than a small strip of forested land to the south, the realm lay between the rivers Anduin and Silverlode, a region called the Naith (S.spearhead)[11] by the Elves or the Gore in Westron. The city of Caras Galadhon stood in the narrowest portion of the Naith, where the two rivers came together, called Egladil (possibly (S. 'egol'=elf, 'till'=point))[12] or the Angle.[4]

As well as inspiring real-world places, Lothlórien has been depicted in other media.

In the Middle-earth Role Playing supplement Lórien and the Halls of the Elven Smiths (Iron Crown Enterprises, 1986), Lórien society is divided into several guilds, or "Glades" with each one taking a specific craft (such as baking, weaving or hunting). The hidden nature of the place is accorded to effects of the ring Nenya, and Elessar, the elf-stone — which are both said to slow the effects of time. Its particular geographic position, being sheltered by the Misty Mountains from storms, and the environmental effect of mallorn trees (which do not lose their leaves and so provide constant shelter from the elements all year round) are also claimed to cause a reduction in the effect of the passing seasons.